SNP MPs sing EU anthem during crucial vote on whether Brexit should go ahead

Musical protest prompts Deputy Speaker to demand there is not 'a sing-off in the Chamber'

Scottish National Party (SNP) MPs have been caught staging an unusual musical protest against Brexit as the House of Commons voted on whether Theresa May should be allowed to trigger Article 50.

A group of anti-Brexit MPs sang Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” while MPs filed through the division lobbies during the crucial vote. The song is the official anthem of the European Union.

The famous piece was composed by Beethoven in 1824 as part of his 9th Symphony and uses words from an earlier poem by Friedrich Schiller. It was adopted as the official EU anthem in 1972.

A small group of SNP MPs began whistling the tune as the Commons voted on the crucial third reading of the Government’s European Union Bill. As other MPs joined in, the whistling developed into humming and then outright singing, with one MP even standing in front of the SNP benches to conduct their colleagues.

The bizarre choral protest led Lindsay Hoyle, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, to intervene, yelling: “Order!”

Addressing Patricia Gibson, the MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, he added: “Ms Gibson, it’s very good that you’re the choir but what I would say is, I personally don’t mind singing but I certainly can’t allow it in the Chamber.

“Before we know it we could hear other tunes and I don’t want to get into that, and some of them haven’t got quite the voice…so please, I don’t want a sing-off within the Chamber.

“It’s very good of you, much appreciated, but if you could just leave it for a little while…it’s been very a tense week already, I just don’t need any extra.”

Despite the lyrical outburst, MPs eventually passed the Bill by a majority of 494 to 122. It will now pass to the House of Lords.